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Thursday, September 8, 2022

Accepting Grace


OK, so that's about 200 lbs of Dog that has just shredded my bed. Belle and Henry clearly work as a team in areas beyond CPR.

Barb says, with justification, that I accept help and comfort from dogs far more readily than from her.

She's right, and it's wrong, and I need to do better.

 You may sometime meet a day
when you can't do it alone;
no matter what your pride might say,
you, kneeling, will atone
for keeping others at arm's length,
refusing aid with scowl or smile.
When you find the end of strength,
then let it go in style,
and reach out with and open hand,
and, vitally, an open heart,
with prayer that you may understand
the need to do your part,
to let another have a place
at the table of an offered grace.

The Five Minute Friday prompt this week is GENEROUS. Will you be generous in the time I take? This is hard.

The world threw me beneath the bus
when it learned that I had cancer,
but God, it seems, is generous,
and has supplied an answer.
Mostly we don't know the why,
we just live in the what,
but since I'm really gonna die,
God stirred the cooking-pot
and let me know just what had come
to the top of the life-stew,
that I'd be forever young,
and said what I had to do,
was witness love with tears and laughter
for all those who would follow after.

A bit over five minutes. Ah, well.

Music from NeedToBreathe, with Keep Your Eyes Open.

 Sylvia will always accept grace, especially in the form of ice cream.



 

25 comments:

  1. You are truly a generous and wonderful witness to the grace of God, Andrew. Thank you for being YOU and for sharing with us.

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    1. Corinne, thank you so much. Your gracious affirmation really brightened my day.

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  2. You are always so generous with your comments Andrew, which we really appreciate because of the time and energy it must take you. Thank you.

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    1. Fiona, thank you for this. I fell off the pace this week because some really high fevers made writing hard.

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  3. We really can't do life alone, Andrew!

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    1. Yes, indeed, and trying to do life alone is a fool's errand.

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  4. Andrew, you are such a generous commentator, leaving a gift of prose with each comment! May God continue to be with you and give you all you need each day!

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    1. Joanne, thank you so much. I so value the interaction of the blogosphere; it's all I have now.

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  5. Thank you Andrew, for what you write and also for the fun picture. They are naughty of course, but they look so innocently into the lens. I had to smile and smile, and smile.

    Even if I don't quite understand some words and have to translate them, I enjoy your blog and your poems. You are so generous in handing out words in poetic form. You even take the barrier of language for granted. So, thank you from the Netherlands.

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    1. Bedankt, Arieth!

      I was once fluent in Afrikaans, and passable in German, so your blog is fun to read in Dutch. Good learning for me.

      I hope that one day I will be able to comment in Dutch. It may be awhile before I have that confidence.

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  6. Wow - thank you for sharing some hard things. Praying for you.

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    1. Allie, thank YOU, for your kind words, and for your prayers.

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  7. It can be so hard to accept help but it's important to recognise that we need others and we can't do it alone.

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    1. Lesley, you're so right. I have never wanted to accept help, and now, with no choice, I find it a profound grace.

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  8. grace in the form of ice cream sounds like an absolutely perfect idea! especially if it's chocolate and peanut butter combined.

    hope you guys are resting well this weekend ...

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    1. Linda, my fave is actually bubble gum...

      It was a vicious weekend, and also the days since, but Henry is delighted with the responsibility he's so quickly earned. He's a Ruth Dog; where you go, I go.

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  9. Beautiful poetry, as always, Andrew. Thanks for sharing. And I don't mind if you're over time. I mostly am, which you've probably guessed by now. Visiting from #28 this week.

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    1. Kath, thank you! I'm behind on commenting this week, but hope to make that up tomorrow.

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  10. I was thinking how generous you are to all of us, writing poetry for your own blog and then leaving a unique poetic comment on each of our offerings. Thank you for your gracious example.

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    1. Kym, I'm just honoured to be able to do this.

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  11. Andrew, pondering Barb's comment, I know I accept help from dogs more readily than people too! Besides having a better connection with animals, their pure intuition seems to always now my exact need in the moment. But YES, I should do better in accepting help from people!
    But as to generosity, I agree with the others here, YOU are most generous in sharing genuine feelings, insights, your dogs, and especially your beautiful gift of poetry!

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    1. Donna, I am so humbled and honoured. Thank you.

      I've always gotten along better with animals; dogs, horses, cats, cows, wild rabbits... anything but hummingbirds. They, for some reason, see me as a target for those sharp little beaks.

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  12. Your last 2 lines say it all. We are all blessed by it.

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  13. Annette, thank you. I'm trying, but several days of very high fevers have made communications really tough.

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